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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Min Gi Kim, Byongjo Yun, Jae Jun Jeong
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 1 | January 2025 | Pages 93-110
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2319926
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We have developed a heat transfer correlation for saturated flow boiling of water in a helically coiled tube. Initially, we collected experimental data encompassing a broad spectrum of thermal-hydraulic conditions and geometric configurations, and examined the influences of key dimensionless parameters, such as the convection number and the boiling number. The data analysis showed that the observed trend aligns with previous studies on boiling heat transfer within a straight tube. Also, we investigated the influence of centrifugal force acting on the fluid in a helically coiled tube and confirmed its significant impact on boiling heat transfer. Based on our findings, we propose a new heat transfer correlation that incorporates a dimensionless number of the centrifugal force divided by gravitational force. The basic structure of this correlation was adapted from the Kandlikar correlation for saturated flow boiling. The new correlation demonstrated enhanced accuracy compared to existing ones. Additionally, we showed its applicability to boiling heat transfer within a straight tube as well.
